Taylor

This page traces the immigrant Robert Taylor1 (d. 1695), his father ThomasA, grandfather JohnB, and his daughter Mary Taylor2 who married 1692 Henry Lewis. [See an explanation of the National Genealogical Society's Numbering System used on this web page.] The Notes and Sources are at the bottom of the page, or click on a "footnote" number. This page is part of a more complete and detailed book that embeds the genealogy into a larger historical context. If you have corrections or additions, especially about earlier generations in England, please contact me at .

Earlier Generations in England

Various secondary sources trace this Taylor line back to Robert TaylorE (b. ca. 1480) who married ca. 1505 Joan __. They had a son, Thomas TaylorD (bur. May 20, 1562 in Great Budworth church), whose son Thomas TaylorC (bur. August 3, 1575) married another Joan __ (bur. Feb. 27, 1575/6). This ThomasC and Joan had a son named JohnB (ca. 1550-1627) who married 1586 Ellen Masser or MASSEY. All of these generations lived on the family farm in the hamlet of Clatterwich, in Little Leigh, parish of Great Budworth, Cheshire.[1] I haven't checked any of this myself, nor have I located an old ordinance survey map that might have the farm marked. If there is a reader out there who can help I'd be happy to hear from you.

John TaylorB, son of Thomas and Joan (__), was born ca. 1550 and died in 1627. He married first on July 18, 1575, Joan GATLIFE or Oatcliff of Gutcliffe, who was died before November 22, 1586. They had four children. John married secondly on December 11, 1586 Ellen MASSEY, and they had two children. His third wife, who survived him, was Alice PASSEY, married on December 7, 1611. She died December 14, 1631. All three marriages were recorded in the Great Budworth Church records.[2]

St. Mary and All Saints Church in Great Budworth is built of red sandstone in the Perpendicular style, with an older north transcept in the Decorated Style that can be dated back to the 14th cen-tury. The rest is fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The entire building is crenellated, with a tower topped with eight crocketed pinnacles. A 15th century baptismal font survived and was used by these early generations of Taylors. By ca. 1600 the church had been stripped of it earlier decorations and was whitewashed inside. Somehow the font escaped the "purifying". A series of Puritan ministers shifted the congregation from religious conservatism to a radical Protestantism.[3]

The will of John Taylor, husbandman of Clatterwich in Little Leigh, was dated March 16, 1625, and proved at Chester April 9, 1627. It directed that his burial be in Great Budworth Church, and provided that all debts, funeral expenses and legacies should be paid out of his personal estate.[4]

Richard TaylorA, bapt. Sept. 4, 1580; bur. Apr. 8, 1627. He was buried the day before his father's will was proved, so obviously he did not inherit anything. I don't know if he had a wife and/or heirs.

Thomas TaylorA, the youngest son of John and his second wife, Ellen (MASSEY), was baptized October 9, 1594 in the Great Budworth parish church in Little Leigh. He was married on September 21, 1630 to Mary BARROW of Davenham Parish, spinster. The wedding took place at Whitegate, located near the towns of Northwich and Winsford, presumably in St. Mary's Church in Whitegate, Cheshire.[6]

It may be that Thomas's two older brothers died, because he succeeded to Clatterwich. The Taylors' youngest son Thomas, born ca. 1649, was apparently not baptized in the Great Budworth parish church. Already by that time it appears that the Taylors were dissatisfied with the established church and its Puritan minister. Probably between 1657 and 1660, Thomas and Mary became Friends. They both suffered for their faith. As a result of the early autumn 1665 bishop's Cheshire visitation to Farnworth, in December Thomas Taylor and his wife, along with thirty-six others, were presented for being Quakers.[7]

Thomas would not have wanted to be buried in the churchyard, and his remains were buried February 1, 1669/70, recorded, presumably by Friends, who identified him "of Clatterwich in Little Leigh."[8]

First Generation to Pennsylvania

Robert Taylor1 was born in 1633, and baptized on December 15 before his parents become Friends, before the Religious Society had begun. He died in Springfield Township, Pennsylvania in 1695, probably in early May. Robert and Mary HAYES married in 1663 in the presence of Friends in England. She was the daughter of Jonathan Hayes and his wife Margaret (MERRICK).

Robert became a Friend, probably soon after 1660. He and Mary were persecuted for their faith. For example, in January 1662/3, charges were brought against "Robert Taylor & his pretended wife, . . . Quakers, for being unlawfully marryed." In 1680 Frandley Meeting reported that a tithe farmer, Peter BROMFIELD, took from Robert Taylor for "tythe corn [i.e. grain] worth £1.14.00, and in 1681 corn worth £1.02.00.[10]

When the possibility of moving to Pennsylvania became known, Robert Taylor bought 1000 acres in the new proprietary while he was still in England, thus making him a First Pur-chaser. As a First Purchaser Robert received lot #20 on the Delaware Front in Philadelphia. He took up 400 of his 1000 acres November 11, 1682, in the vicinity of what is now the village of Broomall, then in Chester County, now Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The remaining 600 acres of Taylor's land was laid out south of the present Springfield Water Basin.[11]

Robert emigrated first, travelling with a servant, Daniel WILLIAMSON. They sailed on the Concord, leaving Liverpool in 1682. Mary Taylor "late of Clatterwitch in Cheshire" and her children, "Isaack, Tho:, Jona:, Phebe, Mary, Martha" arrived in Philadelphia on Seventh Month 29, 1683 on board the ketch Endeavour of London. Mary's brother Jonathan HAYES went with them.[12]

Robert was active in the Friends meeting that met at Bartholomew COPPOCK's house, later called Springfield Meeting. He was also active in local civic affairs, serving on juries, and taking his turn as "Supervisor for the Highways" (seeing that everyone who adjoined a public road helped to maintain it). I hope that those who want to shrink government today are personally prepared to maintain the roads near all their houses.[13]

The 1693 tax rate lists Robert Taylor, charged 3 shillings 4 pence, and his son Isaac (born in 1666), charged 2/8d. Both had less than average, although before Robert divided his land, he would have ranked among the more prosperous.[14]

Robert died in Springfield in the spring of 1695. His will was dated 24 April and proved 16 May.[15]

Mary married a second time 31 March 1701, to Joseph SELBY. She died 11 April 1728.[16]

Children of Robert and Mary (Hayes) Taylor. The first seven children were born in Clatterwich (aka "Clatterwigg") and recorded in the Friends Register, Cheshire.[17]

Rachel Taylor2, b. 11 mo. [Jan.] 15, 1664/5; perhaps d.y. or had already m. and stayed in England because she was not listed as a passenger with her mother. Alternatively, m(1) Apr. 7, 1687 in Chester Twp., Pa., Jonathan LIVEZEY, son of Thomas and Ellen; m(2) 1699 Joseph GILBERT, son of John and Florence at Byberry Meeting.

Phebe Taylor, b. 6 mo. [Aug.] 15, 1670; d. 12 mo. [Feb.] 27, 1749; m(1) Nov. 7, 1692 Thomas Massey who had come from Cheshire on the Endeavour of London 7m/29/1683, the same ship that Phebe came on. Thomas was probably a servant of Francis STANFIELD of Garton, Cheshire; in 1696 he purchased 300 acres in Marple Twp. adjoining Francis and built a fine brick extension on an existing log house. With some changes the house still stands and is a museum at Lawrence Road and Springhouse Road in Broomall. Thomas d. 9m/18/1708, in his 45th year. They had seven children. Phebe then mar. (2) 3m/10/1710 Bartholomew COPPOCK, a widower with two children.

Thomas Taylor, b. 2 mo. [Apr.] 7, 1676; d. Oct. 12, 1725 in Springfield Twp.; m. Hannah Howell; he appointed his brothers-in-law Henry LEWIS and Bartholomew COPPOCK to administer his estate, ordered his plantation sold when his youngest son reached age 14, left £5 to his mother Mary Selby, £20 to each son, and specific articles to each daughter. They had 8 children.

Second Generation in Pennsylvania

Mary Taylor2, sixth child of Robert and Mary (HAYES) Taylor, was born March 14, 1672/3 in Clatterwich, Cheshire. She died in 1705 in Radnor Township, in what was then Chester County. Mary and Henry Lewis, son of Henry Lewis, brought their intention to marry to Chester Monthly Meeting Eighth Month 3, 1692, the same day Mary's sister Phebe and her intended, Thomas MASSEY, brought theirs. The next month both couples were given "liberty to consummate their intentions." Mary and Henry married Tenth Month 26, 1692 in Bartholomew COPPOCK's house in Springfield Township.[18]

After Mary's death, Henry married a second time, Catherine BRYNE, and had six more children.

John Lewis, b. Third Mo. [May] 23, 1697; d. 1780; m. 11 mo. 6, 1725 Katherine (or Catharine) Roberts (1702-1781) daughter of Abel & Mary. John was a mason living in Radnor, a member of Haverford Meeting. Remembered in his father's will. John's will signed Oct. 22, 1775; Catherine, widow, dated her will July 27, 1778; both of them pr. Jan. 11, 1779.[20]

Hannah Lewis, b. Sept. 21, 1704; [is this the same as the next child? if not, this one d.y.]

Hannah Lewis, b. Sept. 21, 1705; was bequeathed £5 in the will of Daniel THOMAS of Merion, 10/1/1722; remembered in her father's will.[22]

To continue the story of this family, go to the Lewis or Price page. The Price line, with many collateral lines including Taylor and Lewis, has been expanded as a hard copy book with considerable historical context. To learn more about the times in which these family members lived, you might want to read The Price Family in History. It gives a lot of social, religious, economic, and political context for the lives of these ancestors. The book is available on lulu.com.

Wilfred Jordan, ed. Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1934), 241. The Cheshire Parish Register Project is working to transcribe and put on line all the marriages, births, and deaths listed in the parish register, but it is not yet complete. Interestingly, Glenn, "Genealogical Gleanings in Great Britain", PMHB, 36:321 leaves out Ellen Masser/y, giving only two wives to John.

Robert J. Steele, "A Brief History of Great Budworth Church" (May 2003), on the web, seen 2/23/2011. In the 1850s under the influence of the wealthy Warburton family the church building and decorations were restored and a more Anglo-Catholic service instituted.

Wm. Fergusson Irvine, ed., Marriage licenses granted within the Archdeaconry of Chester in the Diocese of Chester, Vol. III: 1624-1632 (Printed for the Record Society, 1909), 195; this is vol. 57 of The Record Society. The information is repeated in Jordan, Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania, 242.

"Extracts from the Bishop of Chester's Visitation for the year 1665, relating to Friends", in Journal of the Friends Historical Society (London), Vol. 2, No. 2 (July 1905), p. 98, on the web, 10/24/2007.

Frederick A. Virkus, ed., The Compendium of American Genealogy, 7 vols. (1925-1942; reprinted 2001), 7:291; Gilbert Cope, comp., Genealogy of the Smedley Family Descended from George and Sarah Smedley, Settlers in Chester County, Penna. With Brief Notices of Other Families of the Name, and Abstracts of Early English Wills (Lancaster, Pa.: Wickersham Printing Company, 1901), 245; Chester Co. Will Abstracts on the web.

Their line is given in Thomas Allen Glenn, The Welsh Founders of Pennsylvania (Oxford: Fox, Jones, 1911-1913 in 2 vols, reprinted as 1 vol. Balt; Genealogical Pub. Co., 1970), 139, and Futhey & Cope, History of Chester Co., 2:629-33.